Man’s divorce hearing delayed 9 times after ‘perfectly timed’ heart failures: Judge

A High Court judge has dismissed an appeal against a divorce, noting that the husband had “perfectly timed” heart failures which repeatedly delayed proceedings.

On one occasion, the man even pre-arranged an ambulance to interrupt the hearing as the case was going against him.

“The appellant may have a weak heart but it stoutly persisted in perfectly timed failures – nine times – either on the eve of court proceedings or on the day of the proceedings itself, and even once in the midst of a hearing when it appeared that the proceedings were not going his way,” said Justice Choo Han Teck in decisions grounds published on Jan 27.

With the decision, the woman can now proceeed to finalise matters around the divorce. The couple, who were married in 2009 and have two young children, were not identified in court documents.

Their relationship began to deteriorate significantly from Oct 23, 2019, when the man accused her of having an affair with her classmate.

As they were arguing, she said he became violent by kicking her in the stomach, grabbing her by the neck and forcefully pushing her against a window. She then made a police report.

He repeated the allegations in 2020, which led the woman to agree to a pre-natal paternity test for their younger child. The results confirmed the child was his.

During this period, she claimed that the man pawned her jewellery to pay for the paternity test and publicly humiliated her by telling their friends and members of the church they attended that he had not fathered the baby.

In 2021, she said he demanded money from her, threatened to make her bedbound, stalked her in public places, causing a disturbance, and also threatened to expose to her workplace her alleged extramarital affair.

She said he assaulted her in the master bedroom of their marital home on Feb 4, 2021, and also allegedly called her friends and her workplace to speak to her boss.

The woman eventually applied for a personal protection order (PPO) against him.

Instead of stopping, she claimed he engaged in a pattern of stalking and threatening behaviour throughout 2022, and even attempted to forcibly take their son away from her.

In March 16, 2022, the couple signed an agreement that would see the woman withdrawing her PPO in exchange for his promise of good behaviour.

A clause in the agreement stipulated that divorce proceedings could begin with consent on both sides if the agreement was breached.

But the judge said the tumultuous relationship between the pair resumed almost immediately after the agreement was signed – with another altercation between the pair reported on March 28, 2022.

At some point, they started living apart.

Some time in July 2022, the man allegedly returned to the matrimonial home after testing positive for Covid-19, and in the process violated isolation protocols.

The woman finally filed for a divorce on Aug 4, 2022, but the man continued to contest the grounds for divorce, leading to significant delays.

The man filed an application to strike out the divorce application on June 12, 2023, which was dismissed. He then appealed against the decision first in the District Court, then the High Court.

His appeal was eventually dismissed on July 29, 2024.

Following this, he continued to delay divorce proceedings that had been fixed for Aug 13, 2024, by claiming to be suffering from heart ailments on nine occasions.

When the hearing finally proceeded on Sept 9, 2024, on the 10th attempt, the man arranged for an ambulance to arrive midway, resulting in the hearing being terminated.

Medical records showed that the man had only complained of “chest pain at rest” on the 10th occasion.

“(This) seems to me the polite way of saying that there were no clinical symptoms, and without further tests, the attending physician could only take the appellant’s word for it.

“It was thus not an emergency,” the judge said.

On March 5, 2025, after more than 2½ years since the divorce writ was filed, the District Court granted interim judgment in favour of the woman, finding that the marriage had irretrievably broken down due to the man’s unreasonable behaviour.

He then appealed against this decision.

Justice Choo said that on Jan 22, 2026, the day before the appeal, the man suffered another heart failure and he e-mailed a medical report to the registry stating that he was not able to attend court.

His estranged wife appeared in person in the appeal.

Justice Choo said the man’s actions in delaying the court process have led them to believe that he had no intention of pursuing an appeal, which also appeared to be without merit.

The judge said: “The appellant must accept that when it is time to end, it is best to have a graceful end, so that everyone, including himself, may begin anew.”

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

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